R9 280x Artifacts and flickers problems

Abdelrhman Fayyad

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Jan 7, 2013
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Hello there,
guys I need help from people who already own the R9 280x, lately I have been reading the feedback of the verified owners of the R9 280x on Amazon and newegg, I found that many people are complaining about Artifacts and flickers appearing in games, I don't know if this is a common problems in all the 280x or what, so I need help from people who already own this GPU, does the card worth buying and which brand should I go for or I should go for nvidia to avoid any problems, I am buying this card so it can last with me for the next 3 years, so I can't afford buying a faulty GPU specially that I am living in egypt and there is no RMA in egypt, so I can't afford any problems with the card. the brands available for me is the Asus DC2T, sapphire vapor x, sapphire dual x and for the nvidia gtx 760 there is the gigabyte, Asus DCU II and EVGA, my problem with nvidia is that the 760 is less performance than the 280x while the 770 is overpriced in my country it's about 100$ more than the 280x.

so what's your advice should I buy 280x or 760 and which brand should I go for ??

thanks.
 
Solution
Any card will get that artifacting issue if they run at an unstable speed. Graphics card manufacturers like to make their cards run faster than the reference (AMD set) speed so that the product looks superior. And while it is their responsibility to ensure the cards can run stable at their set speed, it seems certain manufacturers of late have been shoddy in the QC process.

And it seems the R9 280X has the highest failure rate because the R9 280X GPU is actually the same as the older HD 7970. Except that now the chips at 'reference' are essentially overclocked 7970s, so when manufacturers overclock beyond reference they are pushed to extremes and easily become unstable which is what you are seeing now.

Nonetheless the R9 280X is still...

d1versify

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Nov 7, 2012
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I got an ASUS r9 280x directCU II Top and sent it back because of Artifacts. I hope they will let me change to a Gigabyte GTX 770 OC.

Are you sure about the 770? I found the gigabyte 770 for 20 more euros.
The R9s have issues. They were released 5 months ago and still no fix? I dont know what to say. Ill think ill change to nvidia forever.
 

Abdelrhman Fayyad

Honorable
Jan 7, 2013
15
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10,510


yeah your right but its overpriced in my country I dont know why
 
Any card will get that artifacting issue if they run at an unstable speed. Graphics card manufacturers like to make their cards run faster than the reference (AMD set) speed so that the product looks superior. And while it is their responsibility to ensure the cards can run stable at their set speed, it seems certain manufacturers of late have been shoddy in the QC process.

And it seems the R9 280X has the highest failure rate because the R9 280X GPU is actually the same as the older HD 7970. Except that now the chips at 'reference' are essentially overclocked 7970s, so when manufacturers overclock beyond reference they are pushed to extremes and easily become unstable which is what you are seeing now.

Nonetheless the R9 280X is still a good card and it is up to luck if you receive an unstable one. No matter what card you buy be it from AMD or Nvidia you will stand a chance to draw the short stick.

And usually Nvidia cards are priced higher than the equivalent AMD because of the brand image. Most people that are not the least bit tech savvy tend to get the notion that Nvidia is better than AMD so retailers take advantage of it to raise prices of more popular products.
 
Solution

PlasmaScopes88

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Jun 28, 2014
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I have the same problem with the gigabyte version, i think its because manufactures like to overclock the card to make it preform better but sometimes it can just make things unstable. Have you tried using the card with a different motherboard? if you cant do that then maybe try to under clock the card a little.
 

Swindog

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Jul 1, 2014
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4,510


I bought an Asus r9 280x CU TOP 6 months ago and had been battling with artifacting since day 1. I originally thought it was my system couldn't handle BF4 but finally figured out it was the card.
It was RMA'd back to the shop I bought it from. They sent it back to Asus who did 'something' (I don't know what but the void warranty screw had been removed) there was no more artifacting but it started whole screen glitching whilst in windows. I took a picture of that, re-RMA'd it and it has been sent back this morning for a replacement unit. If I have issues with the next one I will be asking for a cheap deal for a step up or swap to Nvidia for nothing.

Asus released a new BIOS upgrade not so long ago directly related to the artifacting issue but it didn't fix it for me at least. The BIOS intent was to drop the clock core clock speeds (which supports the long held theory they are too over clocked from factory)
Don't buy one. Go for the 770, yes it may cost you more but itll be cheaper in the long run if you have a prob with the 280x and you will have a problem.

 

Jack Heino

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Dec 13, 2013
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I was having the same issues in certain games that maxed out the core and Vram. the main games i as having trouble with were Eurotruck 2 and a whole host more. after reading the internet and people saying it was the vram voltage being to high and the card being to far overclocked. i saw once it went over 61*C that is were the issues were happening. i went into Afterburner and changed only the fan profile so it was at 98%at 55*c and so far i have had no issues. i thought it was probably because the vram was getting to hot as it doesn't have a temperature monitor so the card doesn't regulate that part.
 

alsonn

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Sep 16, 2014
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i have same issue with MSI R9 280X 3GB OC . Artifacts while play certain game on high setting. hope can fix it soon or esle gonna buy new gpu GTX 760
 

Jack Heino

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Dec 13, 2013
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i just sent myn in for RMA, hope i dont get another dud
 

alsonn

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Sep 16, 2014
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i use MSI R9 280x 3 GB . artifact on some game. after try everything anything.. last option is RMA . the problem cannot be solve. even u turn down gpu clock or memory clock. cannot solved. cuz is not ur rig or ur monitor tearing. i RMA and change to MSI GTX 760. good luck guy.
 

crabdog

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Sep 16, 2006
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Same problem here with a Gigabyte Windforce 280x OC. Terrible flickering in intense games like Archeage and Shadow of Mordor. Wish I had researched a bit more before buying because it looks like there are LOTS of R9 cards with similar problems. Man if only I'd waited for Maxwell...
 

einheriar

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Apr 17, 2007
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einheriar

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Apr 17, 2007
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I have that too but only once in a while.. Seems like the main problem of the artifacting lies in the high frequency of that ram chips.. try and down-clock it with 50 to 100 MHz .. It was suggesting by some people on the net as being the main cause for problems. I down-clocked from 1500 to 1450 on my MSI r9 280x card yesterday and as of yet artifact free, though I have to say that the card is not artifacting always, but in bouts of several boots then maybe a week without.. Lets see it that helped as reported on the net. Further more they suggested to up the gpu powermax by 5 to 10%.
I use the MSI tools program ( forgot its) name,, asus has a similar tool program where you can tweak with